In Need of a Modern Day Robin Hood
Greed had finally recovered from the activities of the Grand Ball and thought he should probably take on another job to start saving up some money so he can pay rent. He makes his way through the guild and heads over to the guild's job board to see if there are any that seem interesting to him. Hmmm "cleaning up after the ball"...no thanks, we made quite a mess. How about "Clover Town Crook"...nah, not enough money...''He continues to browse the job board when one flyer particularly catches his eye. ''500,000 Jewels plus free smothies?! I'm sold! Oh, but it looks like you need a two man team...Guess that means I need to find someone to join me... He takes a look around the guild and sees Shifuku tending to the bar, The Stealth Guard was sitting on the couches planning a trip to some ski lodge, Niwatori seemed like he wasn't too busy...But then Greed turns to see Layla walking through the guild's entrance. She'll be perfect...''Greed thinks and rushes over to grab Layla by the hand and pulls her right back out the door. "Come on we need to hurry if we are going to make it!" Greed shouts as he pulls Layla towards the train station. "Wha--where are we going?? What's going on?!" Layla says, a bit frazzled by Greed's sudden outburst. "I'll explain on the train to the docks, now pick up the pace!" Greed says. "Uh, okay. Well you can let go of my hand now, I can run just fine on my own." Layla retorts, now seeing the train station appear just over the hill. "Aw, why you gotta take the fun out of everything?" Greed says with a coy grin on his face. They finally arrive at the Onibus Town Train Station and hop on the train labeled "Shipyard Station". It is here that they head to take a ship to Caracol Island, to help a resident who is having some trouble with power hungry guards from the Alverez Empire. But the duo has no idea what will await them when they get the island... ------- Upon arriving at Caracol Island things already started out bad, as guards were positioned at the port entrance demanding money from the passengers for stepping foot on the island. Imprisoning anyone who didn't comply.Greed being the first to react was about to confront the guards when Layla quickly stopped him. "You can't cause trouble here. This island is under the Alvarez Empire's watch. If they found out a soldier from the Magic Council got involved, it could start a political war..." Layla explained. Greed was about to say something when he noticed Layla's clenched fist holding herself back."Ok, so you can't get involved, but I'm not part of the Council." said Greed smiling then using his wind to hold Layla back while he rushed the guards.Greed didn't put up much of a fight and was shortly captured and taken into custody. Layla thinking to herself "''that idiot..." {Midnight} Greed had spent the day in jail for assaulting the guards. Thankfully his jail was that closest to the outside and had no one else but Greed at the moment. While sitting next to the wall in solitude Greed began to say "So, what did you find out?" Layla from the other side of the wall just answered "That you're an idiot." Greed replied "Aww, you do care." Layla smirked and said "Shut up.", but then began to explain "Things here are bad. I talked to the shop owner who put the request, but it seems the Empire has no idea what is happening.The guards placed here have taken advantage under their new leader who was recently appointed.They made it incredibly hard to even live here on the island.They tax the residents for the most idiotic things, taking away any money they might have. What is even worse they don't let the residents leave. Apparently the empire and the council have had many investigations, but can't find any solid proof to the accusations. They give false reports, and anyone who might say anything is threatened.Without proof we can't act. As far as the Council and the Empire are concerned, this place is heaven." Greed then said "I see...Stand back." He took four of his needles from the bracelet he still has and put them on the wall. He transformed the needles into long tiny blades then put his hand on the center of the positioned needles. With a slight turn of his wrist the needles did the same moving creating a circle. Greed using his wind pushed the cut out and began to exit his prison. holding the cut circle he says smiling "So, we just have to find proof then!" Layla touched the wall and created an illusion on the prison making it seem that Greed was still inside to anyone who entered.It didn't take much energy so it made it less likely to be noticed by any expert mages around. "You know I could have gotten you out without having to damage the entire wall you airhead." Layla teased. Greed placed the slab of wall he was holding back in place so to not leave any evidence. "Look, it's all better now!" Greed said to a still smirking Layla. Layla and Greed knew that to get anything they would have to take action against the new leader of the guards. They both ran through the alley ways away from the jail and headed towards the guard headquarters. On their way they passed by a shop that was full of assorted clothes and masks. "Hey wait Layla!" Greed shouted and they stopped their sprint towards the guard's place. "I think we should stop here and get a few disguises...I mean it's like you said, we wouldn't want to start a war with the Magic Council and the Alverez Empire; so they probably shouldn't know that we are members of Koma Inu. Right?" Greed says as he shuffles through the pile of clothes in front of him. "That's a very good point...guess you're not that much of an idiot after all." Layla says as she lets of a small giggle; seeing that Greed had tried on one of those pairs of glasses with a big nose and plastic mustache attached to it. "Woah, was that a compliment I just heard?" Greed smiles as he pokes Layla in the arm. "No you goofball..."A slight blush starting to appear on her cheeks. "Now hurry up and pick something out. I should be ok with my transformation magic, but you need to grab something before the guards get over with their break. I got word that we only have a 20 minute window to have them all in one place." Layla says as she takes a look at the town's clock tower. ''12 minutes left...we should be ok. ''Layla thinks to herself. Once Greed had picked out a suitable disguise, the duo made their way to the guard headquarters. Peeking around the corner, they spot that all the guards were still on their breaks thankfully. Whispering to Greed, Layla devises a plan to infiltrate the headquarters and hopefully obtain the proof they need to rid the island of the corrupted guards. Outside the bunker they see two groups of six guards, casually enjoying their lunches and laughing about something petty. Not wanting to cause a disturbance for the residences around the guard's bunker, Layla uses her illusion magic to put the dozen guards under a peaceful illusion that causes them to fall into a deep slumber. Signalling to Greed that it's ok to proceed, they make their way towards the bunker. "Hey you! Stop right there!" They hear from off in the distance. Apparently a three man squad had left for patrol early, and managed to catch Layla and Greed trying to sneak in. The guards quickly rush over and ask, "Who are you, and what is your business here?" Quickly thinking Greed spouts, "Oh we are new residents here on the island. My fiancee and I here just moved a couple days ago and were wondering if we could speak to the captain here to get a run down of the rules?" Playing along, Layla wraps herself around Greed's arm and says, "It would really help us out if you handsome gentlemen could grab the captain for us, we would appreciate it very much." "I'm sorry miss, but the captain is very busy and the moment, and to be frank, no resident is allowed anywhere near this bunker, so I must ask you two to leave or I will be forced to escort you out." Says one of the three guards. Seeing that their act may end up being futile, Layla whispers in Greed's ear, "Do it now." A smirk appears across Greed's face as he slams his fists against the ground and creates a huge cyclone that lifts the three guards up 10 feet in the air. Layla then pulls out her bow and notches three blunt wind arrows in it from the ethernano released by Greed. She fires the three arrows expertly and manages to hit all three in the head; causing them to be knocked unconscious by the sheer force behind them. The other guards are still trapped under the illusion of Layla, but all the commotion caused the captain and four other guards to emerge from within the bunker. "What the heck is going on out here?! Why are these neanderthals asleep? They need to be out there collecting the taxes from these wretched people!" Turning to see Layla and Greed standing next to the three inept guards, the captain seems to turn a bit pale. "Did you two do that..? Who are you? Are you wizards??" Without hesitation Greed fired two needles from his bracelet and knocked out two of the guards standing beside the captain. They other two guards immediately drew their swords, but Greed had something else in mind. Using his metal magic again, he pulls their swords away from them and slams the hilt down on the helmets of the two guards to knock them to the ground as well. With fear in his eyes of what Greed has just done to his personal guards, the captain begins to make a break for it down the nearby alleyway. Putting some distance between him and the mages, the captain believes that he is in the clear. This is until Layla notches a single blunt arrow into her bow and fires it off. Greed uses his wind magic to give the arrow an extremely high velocity and allow it to knock down the captain before he has the chance to turn the corner. "Well that didn't even seem like much of a fight...they could have at least done something a little more fun." Greed huffs. "Come on, I can only hold these other guards in an illusion for a little while longer. Let's go have a look in this bunker and see if we can find anything." Layla says as she pulls back the door to the guard headquarters. They make their way into the captains office, and manage to find something rather interesting. They seem to have come across a series of documents that shows the guards tax collections for the past couple months. After carefully looking over the documents, Layla sees that the guards have been using the extra tax money that they have collected and putting that straight into their own pockets! In order to avoid suspicions, they see that the guards have been making separate copies of the tax collections and falsifying the numbers to make it appear the the Empire that they are doing their job accordingly; when in actuality they have been stealing from the residents for their own personal gain. "Greed, we need to take these documents back to the Magic Council immediately. I know that the Council will share their findings with the Alverez Empire and get these rotten crooks off the island." Layla says as she beings to pull out the communication lacrima she has tied around her neck. After making a call to the Magic Council and explaining the situation, the Council promises to have those guards removed from duty by the end of the week. Wanting to share the good news, the duo removes their disguises and makes their way back to the smoothie shop to talk with the man who requested the job in the first place. "Layla so nice to see you again!" says the man behind the counter as approach the smoothie shack. "Nice to see you again too Mr. Knowell, we have some good news to share with you!" Layla replies with a sweet smile on her face. "Well what is my dear? And is this the boy that you mentioned was in jail earlier?" Mr. Knowell says as he guestures to Layla's companion. "Yup, that's me! The name's Greed; nice to meet you smoothie man!" Greed says. Layla jabs him in the side and looks towards Mr. Knowell. "I apologize for my teammates rudeness Mr. Knowell. But we wanted to come tell you that the Magic Council and Alverez Empire have received evidence of the atrocities that have taken place here, and we can assure you that by this time next week your tax problem should be over." "Oh my that is wonderful news! I can't thank you two enough! Here let me go get the money I owe you, and please take a smoothie for your travels back to the guild!" He pulls out the jewels that he promised on the flyer and whips up two smoothies to give to the young mages. "I knew I could count on Koma Inu to help me. Trust me when I say that word of your guild's kindness and power has begun to spread! Now please know that you two are welcome to a free smoothie anytime you come to visit the island!" Mr Knowell says as he wipes down the counters. "We appreciate your kindness very much. We will be sure to tell everyone to stop by your shop when they visit." Layla says as she discards her smoothie container. "Yeah Mr Knowell, your smoothies are delicious! Thanks so much!" Greed adds. Making their way back towards the docks, Greed and Layla board the ship that is destined back for Magnolia. While sitting quietly on the ship, Greed decided to break the silence. "Hey Layla, back there you told Mr Knowell that I was your teammate... did you mean that?" "Well yeah, of course. We are part of the same guild after all, right?" Layla replies. "Yeah, but you know that Lady Inari says that we can form teams if we want to help with more difficult jobs requests. And well... I was wondering... I mean, only if you want...well, I was wondering if you would want to form an official team with me?" Greed asks as he rubs the back of his head with his hand. Taken aback by Greed's sudden bashfulness, Layla blushes at his request and says, "I think that would be great. I would love to form a team with you Greed." The two smile at each other warmly, knowing now that they have official become a team. The rest of the way back to the guild hall was filled with playful banter and laughter between the two mages who will now be known as the team Illusio Ventus.